Gutter a real danger

SOUTH Grafton resident Paul Jones is sick of running outside when visitors arrive to make sure they don’t trip over the gutter on the Hyde St side of his home.

DANGER ZONE: South Grafton resident Paul Jones, who lives on the corner of Bent and Hyde Sts, demonstrates the extent of the damage to the road and guttering outside his house.

SOUTH Grafton resident Paul Jones is sick of running outside when visitors arrive to make sure they don't trip over the gutter on the Hyde St side of his home.

For the past three or four years, the road surface and the cement kerb and guttering have been parting company at an increasing rate, Mr Jones says.

Now the cement kerb is about 10cm higher than the footpath.

The road surface about a metre from the kerb has fractured and sunk.

The result is a parking and pedestrian hazard that Paul and his neighbours believe will eventually result in an injury.

"Across the road there is an elderly lady and we're frightened for her safety when she comes over here," he said.

"If I know she's coming over, I make sure I'm outside to help when she crosses the street."

Mr Jones and his wife Del have lived in their home on the corner of Bent and Hyde Sts for 47 years.

He said the road had only been a problem for the past three or four years, which coincided with a number of wet summers.

Clarence Valley Council director of works and civil Troy Anderson is not convinced.

"It's only speculation at the moment, but there's a water main near there which we will have to look at," he said.

"If it was due to the wet weather, the ground would expand in the wet, then shrink back when it dried out.

"That the ground hasn't shrunk back leads me to think it might be something else." Mr Anderson said council staff would investigate the problem in the next few days.

Originally published as Gutter a real danger